


She Rises (and Keeps Going)

by TooOceanBlue



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, F/M, Lup Lives (The Adventure Zone), Reclaimer Lup (The Adventure Zone), Reunions, mostly humor but a good balance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28249509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooOceanBlue/pseuds/TooOceanBlue
Summary: The Red Robe floated above the circle of glass, recovering from the terror and elation that had been sparking through him just a moment before. A laugh bubbled out of him in spite of himself, even as he buried his face in his hands. “Oh, gods, I have got to leave better notes.”He angled his head up towards the sky, where a cannonball docked on the moon. “I’ll get you back babe,” He said. The words felt like butterflies in his throat. “Soon.”-Lup Lives Au exploring her and the thb's encounters with the Red Robe.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup
Comments: 93
Kudos: 117





	1. Here There Be Gerblins

**Author's Note:**

> I really struggled with naming this but it's what's on the inside that counts! In this case its mostly Lup razzing her husband and Barry being very conflicted about the appropriate response to that. Enjoy!

“Hey Taako,” Lup leaned it so she wouldn’t be heard by the rest of their party. “Is it just me or is Barry Bluejeans looking kinda...?” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Taako jerked away from her, disgust clear on his face. “I literally hate you so much.”

Lup laughed. “Am I wrong?”

“You need to get your eyes checked. He looks like a spell book personified.”

“I thought  _ you  _ were a spell book personified?”

“A boring spellbook. Like a spellbook for nerds.”

“Oh like a wizard’s spellbook?”

Taako groaned, pulling his hat down over his eyes. “Whatever, shoot your shot. But if you try any nonsense you’re paying for your own room.”

“Awesome.” It had been months since Taako and Lup had been around anyone for any substantial amount of time. If she wanted to get her flirt on during this rare opportunity it was perfectly within her right.

Lup stood and walked shakily on the cart towards Barry, who suddenly ducked his head as if he hadn’t been staring at them for the past twenty minutes. That was a good sign. It meant he  _ had  _ been staring at them, and not just gazing into open space. Lup sat down beside him.

Barry stayed silent for a second too long, almost like he was unsure Lup had actually approached him. Finally he said, “Uh, is something wrong?”

“You mean aside from the fact that our charge got kidnapped by some Black Spider dude? I’m doing just peachy, my man.”

“Oh, I mean with- with the travel, why you- uh-”

“My brother’s being obnoxious, you seem cooler.” Lup began to shift closer before she realized she had already settled shoulder to shoulder with him. Weird that she hadn’t given him more space. Weird that someone as obviously antisocial as him hadn’t leaned away. 

Barry let out a short, bitter laugh. “Cooler than that guy, sure. You saw me get my ass kicked right?”

Lup bit her tongue on commenting about his ass. Take it slow. “I mean, you’ve gotta be at least a little cool if they hired you on for a job like this. How long have you been doing this whole bodyguard gig?”

“Uh, mmmonths?”

Lup raised an eyebrow.

“Something- time’s been- weird.”

“Weird take from someone who isn’t an elf, but okay.”

Barry bristled, though he still didn’t think to lean away from her. “Oh! I don’t mean, I didn’t mean to-”

“You’re all good my dude.” Lup assured. She slid her arm over the back of the wagon, very subtly behind Barry. To anyone else it would look like she was just stretching out.

Taako gagged from the other side of the wagon. 

“So months, maybe longer. We’re pretty new ourselves. What got you an in with Gundren? That guy over there’s his cousin.” Lup nodded towards Merle. “We’ve done a few jobs with him.”

“Looking for something, I guess.” Barry murmured. He seemed to settle a bit with her arm around him. Had he even noticed?

“That is cryptic as hell dude.”

“Sorry it’s uh- some weird stuff. I think I might have a warlock patron or something, except I’m not getting any powers.”

“Okay, you have  _ got _ to spill now. You know I’m all about those dark magics.”

Barry smiled,  _ finally.  _ “Yeah, um, it’s like this- this voice that I hear sometimes? Wow that sounds crazy.”

“Sure does!”

“I’ve never said this out loud. It wants me to find something. It has a bunch of leads I can’t make sense of,” Barry leaned closer, thought they were already speaking in hushed tones. Lup felt a warmth gather in her at the proximity- okay  _ that  _ was new. “Wave Echo Cave was one of them.”

“You think it’s whatever Gundren called dibs on?”

“I think...maybe. I’m not sure. It gets all fuzzy if I think about it too much. I’m not really sure what it wants.”

“I bet we’ll know when we see it.” Lup said. “Just warn me if you figure out we have to fight a lich or something.”

“Right, a lich,” Barry laughed “Gods, can you imagine?”

“Hey, I’m not the one colluding with a mysterious voice.” Nevermind the fact that she sometimes felt an emptiness inside that was just as convincing. It was easy to ignore most of the time, like now, whispering with Barry about things that really weren’t doing anything for her in the flirting department, but were making her feel damn near lightheaded anyway. She hardly noticed as darkness fell around them, and Magnus pulled the cart off to the side of the road.

“Alright, I’ve gotta catch some zzz’s.” He called back. He looked expectantly at Taako and Lup. “If you guys want to take over we can keep going. We should arrive back in Phandalin tomorrow either way.”

“Do I look like I drive?” Taako called back, as if he hadn’t spent half the time driving their caravan before- well, before they’d ditched. He was already pulling his hat over his head, settling down in the cart for a full night of sleep that he didn’t need. 

“Lup?” Magnus asked hopefully.

“Sorry dude, no dice.” Lup answered, like _ she _ hadn’t spent half the time driving the caravan. She was far more comfortable where she was, Barry falling asleep against her shoulder like he had done it a million times before. Or maybe he was just tired. Lup really didn’t feel like reading into it until they made it back to an inn anyway. 

The next few minutes were spent pulling the cart more solidly to the side of the road, careful to disguise it within the brush in case marauders came by. The party made themselves as comfortable as they could in the limited space. Taako rolled his eyes when he saw Lup settling in right where she was. Lup stuck her tongue out at him and wriggled noticeably closer to Barry. It was cold out anyway.

-

The gauntlet’s flames were hotter than anything she’d ever felt. It made her eyes water to keep them open. She stared at the ashes where Barry’s body had been a moment ago. Gundren screamed, and she stared, like she expected him to rise back up at any moment. Taako grabbed her shoulder and pulled.

-

Taako put a hand on Lup’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about your boy.”

Lup barked out a dry laugh. “That’s literally the least of our problems right now.” She said, but it only rang partially true. So many people were dead. Barry Bluejeans was one of them. Realistically, she’d hardly talked to him more than the bartender. His death shouldn’t feel any heavier to her than any other’s, yet-

“Lup,” Taako’s voice was serious, his expression grave as he reclaimed her attention. “We’ll get you a cute new moon boy. Maybe he’ll have four arms or something. Think of what you could do with that.”

Lup snorted, too tired to keep a straight face through the moment to moment shifts that came with being a person. “Yeah, sounds good bro.” She looked up to the night sky above them, seeing nothing but a circle of black glass reflected in the starry darkness. “Lead the way.”

It was Magnus who took the first step behind Killian, Merle shuffling behind them. Taako waited for Lup to follow before he did the same, hand hovering at her back. She sat in the back of the cannonball, the remains of Phandalin shielded from her sight by the metal paneling. Taako wordlessly took the window seat to her left.

Killian shuffled with something on the control panel.

“This might as well happen.” Taako muttered, and the cannonball began to rise.

-

The Red Robe floated above the circle of glass, recovering from the terror and elation that had been sparking through him just a moment before. A laugh bubbled out of him in spite of himself, even as he buried his face in his hands. “Oh, gods, I have got to leave better notes.”

He angled his head up towards the sky, where a cannonball docked on the moon. “I’ll get you back babe,” He said. The words felt like butterflies in his throat. “Soon.”


	2. Petals To The Metal

The spector rose. Captain Bane’s body crackled with red energy, deathly still on the floor. “Are you afraid?” he said.

Magnus was stepping forward before the words were out of the Red Robe’s...mouth? It didn’t matter. Of course they weren’t afraid. These dipshit’s weren’t afraid of anything.

“Pretty sure that’s a ghost my dude, punches aren’t gonna do shit.” Taako called.

“N-no. They won’t.” The red robe rises out of Magnus’ impressive reach. “You have no reason to fear me.”

Lup moves a hand to her umbrestaff. “Really? Cause I’m pretty sure you just murdered a guy, so like, that’s one reason right there.”

“I  _ saved _ you,” The red robe says. Something about his voice sounds more desperate than it should, coming from such an imposing figure. He sounds like he’s bargaining. Like he’s grieving.

“That did look like bad Brandy.” Merle muttered.

Magnus pulled out Railsplitter. “Couldn’t think of a way to do that with less murder?”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Taako jabbed.

“I’m, listen, this is-” The Red Robe looked to Lup as he raised his palm. “This is not the nature of man.”

There was no way she could tell for sure that the Red Robe was looking at her. He didn’t have  _ eyes.  _ And yet his words felt like an echo, like a reference to a conversation between friends just moments ago. Lup found herself loosening the grip on her umbrella. Taako side eyed her and grabbed his wand, looking, for the first time since Captain Bane had fallen, worried.

“The Black Spider, Gundren, Jenkins, Sloane, Captain Bane-” The faces floated, suspended above the Red Robe’s palm. “-The lengths they went to for the relic’s power. That  _ want,  _ that- the  _ hunger.  _ That is all you have to fear.”

Lup leaned against Taako’s left, prompting him to lower the wand in his hand, if only minutely. She patted her stomach. “Oh for  _ sure  _ my man, we haven’t eaten since breakfast. Can you even eat like that, ghost man? I’d be hella-  _ hella  _ hangry, I bet.”

Lup felt her brother’s posture relax, though she knew implicitly it was part of the act. They’d bluffed their way out of bad situations before. She was sure that’s what Taako thought this was. And it  _ was,  _ just-

“Oh yeah, I bet, I’d probably be smashing drinks and murdering folks too,” Taako laughed. “You know, we could cook you up something if you’re feeling peckish-”

“Like Eggs!” Magnus chimed in.

“It’s lunchtime dumbass!” Merle said.

“Or like- you just had Brandy? What goes good with Brandy?” Taako continued.

“Venison, for sure.” Lup joined in.

“Ooh yeah, venison for sure.”

“No! That’s not- no, thank you. It’s not that kind of  _ hunger.” _

Lup relaxed further. They were in their element now, and this figure- this Red Robe- played right into it. “Ohh I get it, like- like  _ carnal  _ hunger, gotcha. You know one of us could probably take care of that too-”

“Gross” Taako interrupted. 

“I mean, I’ve never boned down with a ghost but like if it’s to save the world or whatever-”

“I hate you-”

“-I’m down to clown.”

“ _ I hate you _ .”

“No!” The Robe Robe’s hands moved up- in the universal sign of surrender, got him- and the illusions he had conjured flickered out. “That’s not-not-  _ power hungry,  _ a hunger for  _ power!  _ And not- not  _ me _ , them!

“Hey now, don’t be embarrassed,” Merle said.

“That’s not what I meant! That’s-” The Red Robe let out a sound surprisingly like a groan. So probably person-adjacent at least. “The Hunger. This is not the nature of man. But it consumes everything it touches. It grows stronger with every relic joined. And it will be the end of all things.” His eyeless face shifts across the group. “This is your first lesson.”

And he disappears in a puff of smoke.

“I didn’t get any of that.” Merle said at last.

“I did!” Magnus said. “Lup you would- you were gonna  _ seduce  _ the ghost?”

“Weirder things have happened!” Lup defended. She couldn’t think of any right now, but it seemed pretty tame in the grand scheme of things. At least to her. “Besides, we were gonna like, make him dinner first! I wasn’t gonna jump right in!”

Taako groaned. “I am going to kill you, and then you  _ will  _ be able to seduce a ghost.”

“You’re weak bro, if you can’t seduce a ghost.”

Magnus turned from where he was surveying Captain Bane’s body. “Yeah I think- I think if you can seduce a ghost-”

“If I can seduce plants you can seduce a ghost!”

“I think if you can seduce a ghost you’re pretty hardcore.” Magnus stood, “Sweet, 4,500gp.”

“We need to get out of here.” Taako said. Whether it was to save himself from this conversation or to get them away from the murder scene Lup couldn’t tell. Probably both. Lup followed him out the door after a quick glance to ensure an empty hallway.

“You’re splitting that gold, right Magnus?” Lup asked.

“Yeah of course.” His words are pointed at Taako, who is for once at the head of their group.

“I’m grabbing the hooch!” Merle called, before waddling out of the room with the bottle of Brandy the Captain had poured and...drank.

“That is for sure poisoned Old Man,” Taako said.

“It’s for a prank!”

“Oh you’ve gotta let me in on that one.” Lup said.

The group made their way out of the building, out towards the edge of Goldcliff where they summoned the cannonball.

Faces flashed through Lup’s mind. The Black Spider, Gundren, Jenkins, Sloane, Bane...and the hand below the images, as incorporeal as smoke.  _ This is your first lesson. _

This wouldn’t be the last time they saw him then. It didn’t feel like the first. Huh.

-

Barry reappeared in his cave, more alive than he had felt in a decade. It killed him to see them as they were, but gods, he had missed them. He had missed Lup.

He floated over to the back of the cave, where information scattered the wall in front of a cluttered desk. He hoped he had gotten through to them. He hoped that nothing had been static. He’d tried to be vague, but maybe he’d been  _ too  _ vague. “ _ Carnal hunger, gotcha _ ”

Barry groaned again, taking on the motion of sitting in the chair next to the desk. He hadn’t felt like such a creep since...well, since a few months ago, when he had a body but not a thought in his head, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. For a moment he wondered if Lup had felt the same draw but the thought was quickly dashed away. Lup was beautiful, hypnotic even. It was easy to be drawn to her, awe on top of love. It would have been the same for him even if they really had never met. But he was plain, and a lich after that. Lup wasn’t going to feel anything for him until he got her memories back.  _ All  _ their memories back.

He looked up at the papers tacked to the wall. Right. Just had to figure that one out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm nearly finished with this fic so I plan on weekly updates at least after today! Please leave a comment if you're enjoying so far!


	3. Crystal Kingdom

Barry blinked into Lucas’s lab, to where he felt Lup’s presence. Within a hundred feet anyone is easy to find.

He floated there unnoticed for a fraction of a second before he raised his hands, and time stopped. He took a breath his form didn’t need. His mind needed it though. For sure.

“What’s bigger than this?” He asked.

Magnus turned around first, because of course he did, and he ran at Barry with his axe raised. Barry was just relieved he was familiar enough with Magnus’s bullshit that he didn’t flinch.

“Uh,” Magnus said, when his axe cut clean through nothing.

“He’s incorporeal, dude!” Lup called.

“Oh, yeah, oh- oohhh I’m a red robe!” Magnus said, stepping into Barry’s space. It was a strange feeling, usually an unpleasant one, but Barry was so starved for contact at this point that he’d take it. Or he would, if he could afford to.

“Okay, excuse me,” Barry shifted to the side, shuddering at the sudden coldness that came when his lich form was freshly unaccompanied. 

“Wait, Magnus, do Lucas now!” Lup said.

“Yeah, charades!” Merle added.

Taako scoffed. “That’s not charades dude, we’re doing impressions!”

Barry stared blankly at his family, feeling a coldness much more acute as they ignored him. “Excuse me?” He said again. 

“Oh, right, you want in, Red Robe?” Lup offered. “Is that why you keep popping up? Jealous of our rad party games?”

“He keeps popping up?” Magnus asked.

Lup rolled her eyes “In the office, my man.”

“When Bane tried to poison you?” Barry knew brushes with death were a bit of a regular occurrence with Magnus, but- well he’d hoped they’d been rare enough these past ten years that Magnus would at least  _ remember  _ them when they happened.

“He tried to poison us?”

“I- okay, so a lot of things went unnoticed. I warned you about the hunger-” Lup winked, and Barry had to stop himself from bursting into flames. Ten years. Ten years without the jabs and and laughs and smiles and  _ her.  _ It almost pulled him under. But more importantly, he had to keep talking before one of them actually called him out on that hunger conversation. “A billion billion lives have been devoured by this hunger-”

“A billion billion?” Magnus asked.

Barry nearly sighed. “Yes.”

“That’s a lot.”

“It sure is.” He waved a hand, and a black disk levitated from the corner of the room. He pulled it towards Lucas’s display, and it began to consume. He couldn’t  _ speak  _ it, but maybe- “There is no more running. This world is life’s last chance.”

“And we’re back on the apocalypse stuff.” Taako sighed.

Lup leaned back against nothing with a familiar smirk. “Gotta say though, I’m really loving the light shows. If you’re gonna be all cryptic you might as well  _ go  _ for it, right?”

“Uh, this isn’t- this isn’t a light show, you know that, right? I’m trying to warn you.”

“It looks like a light show.” Taako said, and Merle and Magnus talked over each other in agreement.

This was going worse than before, and they were running out of time. If Barry could just  _ talk  _ to them, if they could  _ trust _ him- but Lucretia had thrown that all away. The people in this room- they were strangers, as much as they had been on their homeworld, and the hunger was coming, and he couldn’t stop it, and they couldn’t escape it because Davenport was-

“Are you gonna light on fire?”

Barry looked at Lup, his wife, his heart, and felt his soul anchor itself once more. 

“I’m not gonna light on fire,” He answered slowly. If he had thought about his words any less he was sure a ‘babe’ would have tacked itself onto the end. Barry was too fragile for this.

“Well, it’s cool if you were, I’m pretty sure that tourmaline is like, fireproof or something.” she said.

Taako scoffed. “Arcane fire works differently, dweebus.”

“How many- it’s the same damn fire, Taako!”

“Maybe with  _ evocation _ , that- that facetious thing-”

“Remember,” Barry began quietly, and he knew the meaning would obfuscate the word.

Lup looked up from her bickering with Taako. “What?”

“Nothing,” Barry said. He wasn’t getting anywhere. Not today. “Just- remember what I said. The hunger is coming.” He looked at Lup once more. He didn’t mean to, he just- he needed every detail of her face in his mind, needed something to get him though this. “You can’t run anymore” He finished, and disappeared.

-

“What’s bigger than this?” Lucas continued, the moment the Red Robe disappeared. Lup kind of clocked out after that, if she was being honest.

Lup had a vague recollection of the Director telling them to stay away from any Red Robes. She could have imagined it though. Memory wasn’t best in her family, at of least what she knew of it. It wasn’t the best for her and Taako. 

But the more she thought about the Red Robe, the more she felt she had to have imagined the Director’s warnings. He didn’t feel dangerous. He hadn’t made any motion to attack them, and really hadn’t  _ told  _ them to do anything either. He showed up, spoke nonsense, and left.

Well, and started shocking off red energy like he was the center of a lighting tornado. That was the closest to fear she’d felt. But she hadn’t been afraid of him. She’d been afraid _ for _ him- familiarly, desperately, like her very heart depended on it.

Yeah, she would unpack that later.

Taako nudged her with his elbow. “Can you believe this guy?”

Lup’s attention was drawn back to Lucas, who was talking his own brand of nonsense about planar theory. “Oh, yeah. What a nerd, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was sort of short, since without the "You found her" interaction I couldn't find much to work with, but I'll post the next chapter soon! I hope you enjoyed!


	4. The Eleventh Hour

Her brother was dead. Her brother was dead, and had died a dozen times, and she knew and remembered and it ripped through her harder than the cracking earth as she saw him lay still in a world he couldn’t return from. Lup’s own form crackled with grief, unanchored, and she screamed-

And her screams were cut short, as they returned to that white space, and her brother had died once and she had died once and something about it was familiar. She didn’t have time to dwell on that.

“Oh, you’ll have to do much better than that, loves,” the old woman said- and they woke up.

-

Her brother’s body lay dead on the locker room floor. For a moment she was untethered, and she remembered her own screams before she remembered everything, from this life and the last. Taako would be back, Starblaster or no. She had to turn away from his corpse to remind herself of that. 

Okay, next step. She had to get out of this time bubble. Refuge could wait (if the past few loops were any indication, Refuge could wait  _ forever),  _ but Lup could not. She needed to find Lucretia. She needed to find  _ Barry.  _

Lup wasted no time with levitation, instead teleporting to the very edge of Refuge where they were first cannonballed through. She pushed against the bubble, only to be met with impermeable resistance. She attempted to teleport to the other side to the same effect.

Lup turned away sharply, floating in restless circles at the edge of town. How had they gotten in before? Avi had waited until the magic keeping Refuge locked away was at its weakest, then shot them through. She didn’t have a cannonball, but blink should work just as well. She just had to figure out when the forefield was at its weakest.

Lup lifted her hands and cast detect magic.

The forcefield didn’t feel weak, that was for sure. She held the spell for its duration, feeling the ebb and flow of the magic it was directed at. It wasn’t getting weaker. The spell ended.

Lup swore and cast the spell again. She had half an hour.

Twenty five minutes in she felt the bubble finally soften. She dropped detect magic and cast blink, forcing her way through with the power of a being made of pure magic. 

“Lup?”

Lup startled at the voice. How was she so lucky, that he was so  _ close?  _ She shot towards his voice before she could think, nearly flying through him before circling her form around his, an electric pantomime of an embrace. Something in her center burned, expanding outwards as she took her husband in her arms. He was laughing in disbelief, crackling and alive with the magic that made him, and she was laughing too, more at ease than she’d felt in the past decade.

“Babe, its- it’s you! You’re- dead? Lup, what happened?”

“Ugh, Magnus-  _ Magnus  _ blew something up, this- that one’s on him. Gods, it’s good to see you.”

“Magnus? Are the boys okay?”

“They’re- they’ll be fine. I have like five minutes.” Lup pulled herself back just enough to watch him. “Shit, I have like five minutes. We can’t get shit done like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pretty sure my soul’s gonna get yoinked back in there with my body when Refuge resets, which like,” She glanced up at the sun before realizing it had no bearing on the time within Refuge. “Yeah, probably five minutes.” Frustration crackled through her, soothed by the feeling of Barry’s soul against hers.

“Resets? Is that what- are they  _ okay?” _

“They’re dead but they’re fine.” Lup forced a smile. “Wouldn’t be the first time, right Babe?”

“Oh. Well that’s- that’s a lot to unpack.”

“Yeah,” Lup said, and she felt the weight of the world settle in her form. “What the fuck is going on, babe?”

“It’s- god, it’s a lot. Lucretia is trying to gather the relics, I- I think she’s trying to make the shield. I think Fisher- I think there’s a second voidfish. I’ve been trying to get you guys to figure that out, so we can do something-”

Lup laughed in spite of herself “Ohhh yeah, ‘are you afraid?’ Babe, what are you doing?”

“I- I can’t be direct! Your brains are soup right now!”

“You don’t have to be so spooky about it!

Barry laughed. “Yeah well, I can’t exactly sound like Barry Bluejeans.”

Lup remembered Phandalin- how close he was, and she hardly realized it. Then she remembered the fate of Phandalin, and she felt the fire tear through her. When she spoke, her voice came out low. “My relic-”

“Hold on, no, Lup that’s- that’s not something to dwell on. We’re fixing this, we’re gonna fix this. And we’ll fix the relics too.”

Before Lup could answer, she felt a familiar tug at her soul, and she was back in that white space, mind gone.

“Somehow you did worse that time,” The old woman said.

-

Barry’s being filled with relief as Lup emerged from refuge yet again. This was probably bad. It meant she’d died again, and possibly the boys too, but he couldn’t help how it felt to finally  _ hold  _ her.

“We have  _ got  _ to stop meeting like this,” she laughed into his shoulder. He couldn’t help but disagree.

“I know it’s uh, not ideal, but um. I gotta admit it’s pretty damn great to see you.”

“Would be better with faces,” Lup said. “I would fuckin, uh, I could smooch you’re fucking brains out.”

“Oh! That’s,uh- I might have something for that?”

“For smooching?”

“No! No, for our bodies. Like a body tank. A cloning tank? I’m growing mine right now.”

“Babe,  _ more  _ necromancy crimes?  _ Here? _ Not that I’m not all about it, but that  _ guy-  _ remember that guy? We fought- Babe, the Grim Reaper has a stick up his butt.”

“You fought the Grim Reaper?”

“Oh, right, you left! Well we- we cheated Death, no big deal.”

Barry laughed.  _ Of course  _ they had a run-in with Death, and  _ of course  _ they made it out alive. “Seems like a pretty big deal Babe.”

“Well,  _ yeah,  _ ya girl's got us cleared of all past death crimes!”

“Babe, that is- you realize how amazing that is, right? That’s- god, I love you.”

“I love you too, Babe,” Lup pushed her hood against Barry’s. “Is it weird to say I have spent  _ way too long  _ in a body?”

Barry barked out another laugh. He was  _ giddy.  _ “No, I- I get it. Flesh me’s brain is goop. Plus he has back problems”

Lup laughed and started to respond- but before she could continue, familiar steaks of white light began to tug away at her. Barry was left with an empty space in his arms as his wife was returned to her body. He really shouldn’t be disappointed. He had to keep telling himself that as the loneliness spread.

-

Four minutes before the reset of refuge, Lup pushed through the bubble once again. She really should try to figure out a way to use her lichy magic to fix refuge, but how could she resist Barry? She’d been without him for so long, missing him when she couldn’t even put a name to it. Sometimes a girl just needed to take some personal time with the love of her life, sue her. She felt a shake of relief through Barry’s soul as she held onto him for the third time in a decade. Damnit, she was gonna be pissed when she had to go back to goop brain again.

“We should talk strategy,” Lup said. “The boys are  _ this close  _ to figuring out the locker puzzle and I don’t know how many more resets we’re gonna get.

“Right, yeah,” Barry pulled back, wiping at where his eyes would be before realizing this form couldn’t cry. He took Lup’s hand instead. “What are we thinking?”

“I think we’ve got refuge handled. I mean, we’ve taken care of four relics already- shit. God, the hunger is close, isn’t it Babe? That’s what Taako saw at the festival.”

“Yeah, it’s- it’s not ideal. Lucretia’s been putting the light back together, piece by piece. We’ve got to make them back into the relics soon, if we even can, if the hunger isn’t already on its way-” This is where the fear would manifest in instability, where he would close his eyes and try to remember Lup- But she was here, running a skeletal hand over his. “But we’ve got to get everyone to remember first.”

“Barry,” Lup spoke slowly. “I’m not sure I want to put the relics  _ back.  _ They- Lucretia’s plan won’t work, but there has to be something else, right? It wasn’t working before. There has to be another way.”

Barry hesitated, trying to find the words. “Lup, we don’t have that kind of  _ time.  _ The hunger is on its way. We need to remake the relics or we need to- to start over, find a new plane.”

Lup shook her head. “No. We’ve got roots here now, we’re not leaving. We’re not abandoning another world. But I won’t destroy it either, Barry. There is always a third option.”

She watched Barry’s form flicker, but she knew he wouldn’t break, not when he had her. “Okay,” he said. “Okay, we’ll find a way. But we have to act fast. Maybe the two of us- if you remain a lich-”

Lup felt a phantom pain where her chest should be, guilt and heartbreak forging one staticky, acid-reflux inducing soup. Really, you’d think her lich form would be immune to that sort of thing. “I can’t be in my lich form, Barry.”

And then she was pulled back into refuge yet again.

-

“Shit Babe, I’m sorry I dropped off right there, let me explain.” She could see how gloomy Barry was the moment she laid eyes on him, but he still reached out to her when she emerged, allowing her to slot him neatly into her arms. “If I die, Lucretia will know it. The moon base is already warded against liches, but apparently not when they’re wearing a flesh suit. Even with a goop brain, I have a chance of finding the second voidfish. If we were both dead, we couldn’t get up there at all.”

Barry nodded. He didn’t like it- the selfish, greedy, lonely part of him didn’t like it- but she was right. She usually was. “Do you think you’ll listen if I give you instructions?”

Lup cringed. “I doubt it Babe, I don’t think any of us are too keen on trusting a red robe. Even a cute one. But I mean, keep trying for sure! It doesn’t hurt.”

Barry laughed dryly. “Right, yeah, I’m- I’m really beefing that one up.”

“Hey, Barry- look at me- no. You’re not beefing it up. What you’re doing- I can’t imagine a harder task. I don’t know if I could keep myself together.”

“There’s been some close calls.” Barry admitted glumly.

“But you’re still here. And Babe? Cannot tell you how pumped I am that that’s the case. I mean, if I couldn’t hold your beautiful lichy body right now I think I’d lose it.”

That finally punched a real laugh out of him. “Right, yeah, I’m glad the- the shadows and bones are still doing it for you.”

“Don’t they for  _ you?”  _

If Barry were flesh he’d be blushing. “Well, that’s- it’s  _ you,  _ Lup what am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, get better at flirting back? You basically went catatonic in Neverwinter.”

“You were making fun of me!”

“Okay  _ maybe,  _ but  _ subconsciously  _ I think I knew what I was doing.”

Barry laughed again. He was pretty sure he’d laughed more in the past few hours than in all the last ten years combined. “You’re trying to kill me.”

“I’m trying to save you. Because that’s what we’re doing, right babe?”

“Right. Yeah, just...We need to find the second voidfish. I’m sure it’s on the moon, but I can’t get up there, and when you’re up there you don’t have…” He trailed off. Lup could virtually see the lightbulb go off in his head.

“What have you got, babe?”

“If you can get up there in a body, I wonder if I could too. Not- not my body, but if I- if I possessed someone. I’d still have my memories then, and I could try to find the voidfish. It couldn’t be one of you, unless- in case I got caught. I’d have to find someone less obvious, someone Lucretia wouldn’t expect.”

“Oh that’d be Pringles for sure.”

“Who?”

“I mean, you could definitely possess someone else, but if a halfling who looks fried out of his mind happened to cannonball down to Faerun for a sec, that would be  _ choice.  _ No one would question Pringles wandering around the bureau in the middle of the night. Here,” Lup pulled back, casting a minor image of Robbie. “This guy. Go for him. Or, you know, anyone that you can I guess.”

Barry studied the image. “Got it. Okay. We’re doing this.”

“We’re doing this Babe. Step one, inoculate everyone with the second voidfish. Step two-” She gestured her skeletal hands around vaguely. “Step three, profit!”

“Sounds- sounds like a plan. Or as much as we’ve ever had, huh Babe?”

Lup began to agree, but before she knew it she was back in that white space, feeling jumbled like she was torn between two conversations. She wondered if the others felt the same way.

-

Lup pushed through the barrier once again. They were getting close. There were only so many goddamn puzzles someone could put in a mining town, right? This could be the last time they die. She told Barry as much.

“Yeah, I- that’s good. You’re almost done.” The sentiment didn’t reach his voice. Not that Lup wouldn’t have been able to tell he was upset, even if he had tried to hide it.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay with you, Babe. You know I want to.”

“I know. I know,” Barry pulled her hand to the shadow where his face would be. She felt him there.

“I love you, Barry, you know that, right? Even when I don’t know what’s going on, I still feel it.”

“I know- yeah Lup, I know.”

“I wanted to jump your bones in- in Phandalin.”

He could almost feel the heat rise to his cheeks, which was ridiculous, he was a lich. “Okay yeah, I- I couldn’t figure out why you were being so friendly with me. I mean, after I knew, but-”

“And in Neverwinter.”

“Lup!”

“I’m crazy about you Babe, is the point.” She pressed her head to his then, intertwining their souls as closely as she could. This would be harder for him than it would be for her, and she needed him desperately to be there when they made it to the other side. “It saves us. And it’ll save this world, too.”

Barry took a breath his body didn’t need. “I love you Lup.”

“I love you too, Barry. Don’t forget that.”

-

Lup was in the flesh when he finally saw her again, Taako and Magnus and Merle at her side. She looked at him with a familiar smirk that was so painfully distant he was sure his body’s heart must have broken a hundred miles away in that cave.

“Did you retrieve the cup?” He asked.

Magnus answered, sure and severe.

“What did you change?” This was the worry that had been bubbling every time Lup went away. They didn’t know any better, like this.

“Nothing,” Lup and Magnus answered this time, and Taako and Merle agreed.

“Nothing?” Barry reassured himself. “That’s- that’s good. I’m...I’m proud of you.” The line between cryptic and familiar had been blurred by his time with Lup. He shouldn’t be saying that.

Taako snorted. “Proud of us, good one. You’re the bad guy, right?”

“I’m the- who told you that?”

“Everybody,” Merle answered. “The B.o.b, The Director.”

That made sense. Of course she did. But it still hurt their chances, unless…“Do you trust me?” He looked at Lup when he said it. He couldn’t help it. There was only a beat before they answered: a resounding  _ Hell No _ .

“You’re fucking popping up like some ghost of candlenights murder, speaking in cryptic nursery rhymes, no we don’t trust you!” Taako declared. “What kind of question is that?”

Lup didn’t elaborate like her brother. Barry considered that his only blessing. Even with her love so fresh in his mind, it hurt. He felt himself coming undone.

“The next time we meet,” He held Lup’s gaze, needed to if he was going to keep  _ believing  _ that they’d make it, even if the recognition there was blurry at best. “I will need you to trust me, completely. Otherwise-” He remembered his conversation with Lup, minutes before. “Otherwise this will all be for nothing. The Hunger is almost here.” he said.

And he disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half-way through! This was one of my favorite chapters to write, so I hope you enjoyed!!


	5. Lunar Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a bit of an interlude from the usual chapters. This was also really fun to write though so I hope you enjoy!

Okay so, spying on your sibling was probably like, against the bro code. If Taako tried to meddle with  _ her  _ love life she’d probably lock him in a closet or something.

But like hell was Lup going to let him go on a  _ date  _ with the guy who had tried to drag them to  _ ghost jail _ on  _ more than one occasion. _

And that’s what it was, a date, even if Taako denied it to the grave ( _ ha _ ). They were going to the fucking Chug n’ Squeeze, and they were  _ still _ going to the Chug n’ Squeeze even after she told him that that was where Killian told Carey she loved her for the first time.

“ _ You may have a pretty face, Lulu, but I’m the talker. Let me handle this. _ ”

Like it was some noble pursuit, right. He was gonna get himself killed or he was gonna fall in love with the grim reaper. Lup wasn’t sure which was worse.

Which was how she found herself staked outside of the Moon’s number one date spot, watching her brother get progressively tipsy and Kravitz get progressively blushy as they made bowls on Cab n’ Vase night. She felt like she was gonna hurl from watching them flirt, but if she kept Taako from getting sliced up by the Nerd-Lord of Death, it was a price she was willing to pay.

Lup watched the conversation dip. Taako stared at his bowl and Kravitz stared...also at Taako’s bowl. And as much as she postured about her brother dating the grim reaper, this was what she was actually worried about, when Kravitz and Taako sobered up and actually began to talk business. Taako had told her that Kravitz no longer had a bounty out on them, but she didn’t know if that had changed between their conversation after refuge and now. They’d talked the night they got back after all, and she didn’t know how long it took death paperwork to go through.

Then Taako put his arms around Kravitz’  _ Fantasy Ghost  _ style and okay, no, she was infinitely more worried about  _ this _ . She could deal with a bounty hunter on her ass, that was fine, she could not deal with him dating her brother and having to see him at...at family brunch or whatever. 

It was a couple of hours before they finally came out, and Lup had to duck behind the bushes like she was in some kind of Fantasy Disney Channel Original. Thank god for those rogue classes with Carey and Magnus. If Taako caught her, she wouldn’t have to worry about the Grim Reaper because he’d kill her himself.

Lup decided to follow them back to the dorm, just in case. If Kravitz was going to hurt Taako, now that they were alone was the perfect opportunity.

Only he didn’t seem threatening at all. No, he seemed  _ nervous.  _ And not the “I’m about to commit murder” nervous, the “I’m about to put myself out there" nervous.  _ Barf. _

“Taako, I- I have to know- was this call for business or pleasure?”  _ Could he be a bigger nerd? _

Yeah, I mean, a little bit of both. I- I, uh, for sure didn’t want to be dragged to hell or whatever it is you do. Stored in the ghost house or with Casper and the lot. Don’t wanna do that. In the mirror, if I remember? I am not interested in that. But if, like, also, I love your style. Not crazy about the sort of cold clamminess of the skin, but like, yeah, you know, it’s been a while out here.”

Okay gross, Lup didn’t need to hear anymore. If Taako got murdered it was his own damn fault at this point-

But suddenly Kravitz was skeletal, scythe summoned. “There’s something here.”

“I feel it too.”

“No, that’s not- there's something here, it was in Miller’s lab too, I could feel it. It’s extremely close, like- It feels like a lich Taako, is there any way a lich could be here?

Lup felt her stomach flip. She only knew one lich, there had been one lich in Miller’s lab. And she didn’t know why, or why he would be here, but she felt-

Something like terror flooded through Lup, and she felt the power gather at the tip of her umbrastaff almost before she could realize. It wasn’t just fear, no, it was far more familiar, tinted with the edge of protectiveness that she had thought she’d reserved only for Taako.

She was scared  _ for  _ the Red Robe.

The spell burst out of Lup’s umbrastaff, and Taako only barely shoved Kravitz out of the way in time.

Lup didn’t have time to unpack  _ that _ . She could barely make sense of what was swirling inside her. But she had to leave,  _ now.  _ She was not about to explain what she was doing in the bushes, or why she had launched a fireball at the grim reaper. Lup tumbled into the darkness, and  _ ran.  _

She almost ran right over Robbie.

“Pringles, my man,” she recovered, leaning against the wall as if she were pausing from an evening stroll to talk to an old friend. Never mind that she was out of breath and her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. He wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. “What’s up?”

Pringles' eyes were bloodshot no less than usual, but he was looking at her with more emotion than she’d ever seen him express. He looked like a deer in headlights, if that deer was like, freaked out of its mind. “Lup, what, um- what are you doing here?” His voice sounded like he’d run gravel through a blender and drank it.

“Shit man, you got a cold or something?”

“N-no I- I don’t have a cold, I’m- I’m actually just going for a walk. Uh, y-you know. ‘High on life’ right? Or something, ha.”

“Riiight. ‘Or something’ right? You gonna be good getting back to your dorm?”

“I-I’ll be fine, thanks Lup. But I am uh, I am sort of, um, distracted, so-”

“Say no more, I’ll leave you to it”. Lup had to get back to her own dorm anyway. She had to make sure Taako got home safe. More importantly, she had to make sure she was  _ there  _ when he got back, because there was no way she’d be able to come up with a good excuse for where she was in the state she was in.

She waved Robbie a goodbye that he nervously returned, and made her way back to her rooms, determined not to think about the red robe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another unknowing interaction! How long will things go on like this?? At least one more chapter it seems.


	6. Reunion Tour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I've had a lot going on preparing for the semester! But please enjoy!

“Hey, uh, I’m thinking you’re about ready to explain to us what the fuck is going on?” Lup asked. She was getting pretty tired of hearing  _ soon  _ at this point- Or maybe she was just tired. Taako had a hand resting casually on her shoulder- through it bearing over half his weight. 

“Yeah, um, I- uh I sort of can’t right now, but real soon-” Lup narrowed her eyes, “I mean real soon, like uh, now. If you come with me.”

Magnus shrugged, wooden joints clacking together as he did. “Yeah, fuck it, I’ve got nothing to lose.”

The Red Robe held out his hand, summoning an illusory stone of farspeech before curling his skeletal hand around it. At that moment, Taako’s crackled, and Angus’ voice chimed through.

“He wants us to give him our stones.” Lup said.

“Yeah,” said Magnus.

“Sure, fuck it,”Taako handed over stone, Angus’ voice crackling out again as it came close to lich. “Been wanting to- to go off the grid anyway.”

“I want a receipt!” Merle argued, then shrugged, handing over his stone. “Yeah, okay.”

The Red Robe held all their stones above his hand and crushed them with ease. But Lup wasn't afraid. She and Taako had had to ditch before- this wasn’t any different. At least that’s what she was telling herself, because the alternative, the possibility that she trusted this figure despite his own damn warnings, was almost too much to stomach.

The Red Robe raised a hand to his hood and whispers something to himself, then began to float out into the wilds.

“Are we following him?” Merle asked.

“We’re following him,” Lup said with certainty, and the party headed out.

-

“Listen, um, this is gonna be a bit awkward in here because- because I think you guys are gonna recognize me, and I’m not gonna recognize you.” The Red Robe explained. “I’m not gonna remember that I’m a lich or- or most things.” Lup didn’t miss the way his gaze flickered to her. “Basically we’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time, and I have a lot of faith in my plans but, well I can be kind of stubborn, so uh, try to help me follow my own instructions okay? I promise, if you do, everything will make sense soon.”

“Yeah, sure,” Taako agreed.

The Red Robe floated over to the...body pod, and began to sink in before his hood popped back up above the fluid. “Hey, uh, L-lup? I’m uh, I’m gonna be naked as a jaybird when I come outta here. Could you grab me a change of clothes from that chest?”

“Sure,” Lup offered. The Red Robe nodded, and sank back into the pod.

Lup stepped over to the chest to gather the clothes within. A white cotton shirt that smelled...mind-fuzzingly familiar. A leather belt, glasses, a pair of pants. Bluejeans. And as she turned around and the tank split opened, she recognized the man that stepped out. He gripped his head.

“Hey, uh, what- this is gonna sound crazy but I uh, I don’t remember what happened last night. I must have...partied pretty hard, huh?” He sounded confused, like the words he was saying didn’t make sense to him. He sounded pretty out of it in general.

“Here,” Lup thrust his clothes towards him. Barry blinked at her before the pieces seemed to click, and he quickly dressed, trying to avert his gaze. Key word trying, because from the moment he slid on his glasses he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. Not that Lup was doing much better.

He had that starry-eyed look that she knew so well. She hadn’t hooked up with him, she remembered. Because he’d died.

“So, uh, you were gonna-” Magnus started.

“The coin,” Taako interrupted. 

“Yeah, you’ve got a coin that’s supposed to remind us of stuff.”

Barry dug around in his pocket, pulling out the coin. As soon as he raised it it began to speak. 

“Your name is Barry Bluejeans. You’re afraid of the dark. Your favorite thing in the world is swimming in very cold water on a very hot day. You get sick when you drink milk or anything with milk in it. Your father Gregor died when you were too young to know him. Your mother, Marlena, was the most wonderful woman who ever lived. And you remember those things, but you’ve forgotten so much.” 

“This seems kinda intimate,” Magnus interrupted.

“Yeah like maybe we shouldn’t be here.” Merle agreed.

“Right now there’s a dull weight in your chest. It’s the weight of the love that defined and redeemed you, but you’ve forgotten who that weight belongs to. Barry, I’m  _ you,  _ just moments ago, and I promise she’s close. And I can help you remember.”

Lup felt eyes on her. She snapped her head towards the boys. “ _ Why _ are you looking at me?” she demanded.

“Nothing, it just seems like a pretty big coincidence” Taako shrugged.

“Yeah there’s only one ‘she’ here,” said Magnus.

“And you two were making goo-goo eyes back when- well back in Phandalin, and you were flirting when he was all spooky.” Merle said.

“We were not  _ flirting,”  _ Lup snapped.

“Listen, I don’t know what that coin was saying-” Barry started.

“No, don’t- you don’t need to explain, you just came back to life or something.” Lup assured.

“What?”

“Nothing.” 

“The rest of you,” the coin continued, “There’s a map on my desk to Lucretia’s vault at the Bureau of Balance. It was incredibly difficult to obtain that information, because I can’t step foot on the base in my lich form. But you need to bring me up there with you. You’ll have to hide me. And uh, try to make sure I don’t kick it, because if I go lich up there I’m toast.”

“So that’s uh, that’s shady, right?” Taako asked, looking at Lup. “I mean, ya know ya boy ain’t exactly about trust, but the Bureau of Balance, that’s- I don’t not trust them, I don’t know if we should just-”

“Taako,” Magnus interrupted. “Listen, I- there’s a reason I’ve been so on board with this. I think I should tell you guys,”

“You’re a Red Robe!” Merle joked. Lup couldn’t see Magnus’ expression on his mannequin face, but his posture reflected what his eyes couldn’t. Lup turned to Barry.

“Could you give us a minute, dear?” she asked sweetly.

“Oh, y- of course, yeah,” Barry said, taking a few steps back into the outer section of the cave lair. So much for stubbornness. Well, she tended to have that effect on people. It just usually didn’t feel the other way around too. But she could unpack that later. Hopefully.

“What have you got to tell us, Magnus?”

-

Lup drank. And she remembered.

It felt like a freight train, like every explosion she’d ever been in, in Refuge, on the  _ Starblaster, _ on- on half a dozen worlds because she never could resist danger.

Lup brought a hand to her brother’s shoulder, hardly able to stay upright even on the floor. Barry was the only one of them still standing, probably- probably because he’d been through this who knows how many times in the past decade.

“Lup,” Barry’s voice rang familiar in her ears as he approached her hesitantly. Oh that would not do.

“Babe,” Lup had him in her arms in a second, breathing him in like it was the first time. She felt him shaking more than she felt it in herself. She wanted to scream for having forgot him. She wanted to cry for being with him again. “What the  _ fuck,  _ am I right?”

“You’re right.” Taako said dryly. He stood up across from Lucretia, expression dark. Magnus’ was much the same.

“Taako, everyone, listen. I can explain,” she said.

The hunger rumbled overhead.

“Yeah, that’s about a decade too late, my dude.”

“Or ten minutes,” Lup intervened. “We can- we can talk about this later, for sure, but I think we’ve got, uh, bigger fish to fry, right now.”

“It’s not  _ here,”  _ Taako said, and Lup heard the meaning in his voice. The hunger was out there, it was on this plane, but it wasn’t in the room. He could ignore it, as long as it wasn’t in the room.

“It’s here,” Magnus said. “Lup’s right,” His expression furrowed looking towards Lucretia. “We can talk later, for now-”

And the hunger smashed, dark and infinite, through the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo next chapter is pretty much an epilogue! Hope y'all have enjoyed this incredibly self-indulgent au!


	7. Ever (And Ever) After

Lup lay next to Barry, smiling up at the ceiling of their bedroom. “I still can’t believe  _ I _ managed to stay corporeal for twelve years and you beefed it like, ten times babe.” she said.

_ Oh jeez _ . “Lup,” Barry pleaded.

“Oh no, that’s super embarrassing for you. And you had such a good record before. I think this puts you above Capn’Port. Definitely above Taako.”

“Above? Babe, that’s counting backwards.”

“Most deaths wins!”

“That’s-” Barry laughed, “You just wanna place higher.”

“Uh-huh,it’s always been that way. Ask Magnus.” Lup insisted.

“ _ Magnus _ wants to place higher.”

Lup laughed, rolling over to pull Barry closer. He wrapped his arms around her instinctually, and she kissed the side of his face. “Hmm. Why don’t you just take the compliment? You’re gonna need it.”

“Wh- Why will I need it?”

“Because I’m thinking about all the dorky things you said when we couldn’t remember what you were talking about.

Barry froze beneath her. Ah. The day had come. “Babe, is that- that doesn’t really matter now.”

“Oh no, I think it does Babe, because I remember you talking about a certain  _ non-apocalypse  _ hunger-”

“I- I never said that!  _ You _ said that!

“When we were in Rockport,” Lup raised her voice over him. “I was just  _ so  _ irresistible, you couldn’t help yourself huh? Even as a lich? As an evil lich?”

“You flirted back!” Barry argued. There was no use fighting the hunger conversation, she was already attached to her version.

“Uh,  _ yeah  _ Babe, you were hot! But not a very good  _ nemesis.” _

“I wasn’t trying to be your nemesis”

“Oh, you weren’t? Sorry, I must have misread all the  _ spooky _ prophecies.” she tickled his side.

“Babe,” he laughed. 

“And the- wait,” Lup sat up, pulling the blanket over her head like a hood. “And the ‘what’s bigger than this?’” she said spookily. Her eyes lit up as she did. He could see the idea forming behind them.

“Don’t” Barry begged.

“Or was that a sex thing? Babe were you saying a sex thing back in the lab? Is that why you got so embarrassed?”

“It was  _ not _ a sex thing.”

“Are you sure? Cause you went  _ so _ red, Barry, it reminded me of the first time you saw me naked.”

“It was not a sex thing,” Barry insisted. This was a losing battle.

Lup flopped back down next to him, planting a quick kiss on his lips. “Well I was into it anyway.”

“Sure.”

“I  _ was _ , if you must know,” Lup laughed. “The boys teased me for it.”

“What?”

“Remember when your coin said...you still loved me, even though you couldn’t remember me?” Lup smiled up at him, tapping her fingers along his shoulder. “I felt that too Babe, just in case you were wondering.”

“Oh. That’s-” he swallowed the lump in his throat. “That’s nice.”

Lup snorted. “‘That’s nice’, you had me thinking I had a ghost kink.”

Barry laughed. “You do have a ghost kink.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know that!” She squeezed him. “Besides, that’s only when I’m like, deprived for a year. I much prefer when I can hold you.”

“Yeah,” Barry said, “Me too”.

“Good thing you had your body ready when everything went down.” Lup said, “If I had to wait another three months after everything I might have had to do something drastic.”

“Like death crimes?”

“Yeah like more death crimes. Not sure the Raven Queen would have been cool with her reapers breaking their oaths right out the gate.”

“We could have done it before we signed on. Just uh- just drip, little bit of blood in the tank and oh, look, a body! It coulda been lumped in with our uh...we have a  _ lot _ of other death crimes, Lup.”

Lup grinned, lifting her arm for a high five. “Damn right we do!” 

Barry laughed, returning the gesture before linking their hands together. She was here, solid and alive, and she loved him. 

And the world was well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo and we've reached our thrillingly domestic conclusion lol! I hope you all enjoyed my very self indulgent version of a Lup lives au. I have a oneshot that I hope to have up within these next few weeks, but I'll probably go on another hiatus after that since I have a pretty hefty semester ahead of me! Stay safe!


End file.
